Gilmore says €3.1bn Budget adjustment not agreed target

Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore has said he does not see a case for doing more than is necessary to meet the Government's target of getting the deficit under 5.1% in 2014.

Today’s Irish Times reports that Mr Gilmore has rejected a call from European Stability Mechanism Managing Director Klaus Regling to stick to the Budget adjustment target of €3.1bn.

Speaking on RTÉ's The Business with George Lee this morning, Mr Gilmore said the targets set and agreed had been expressed in percentage terms and not in terms of a quantity of money.

He said there have been suggestions that even if the 5.1% target is met, there should also be cuts and tax adjustments of €3.1bn.

"Our view is that we will meet our target of 5.1% and we will do what is necessary in order to do that.

"That'll still be very significant and this will be a challenging Budget as all our budgets have been, but I do not see a case for doing more than is necessary to meet the target that has already been agreed with us." Mr Gilmore said.

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